JR LATE NIGHT PAGES

29 December 2015

JR Late Night Blogs: Movies of the Year 2015

After more than a year of blog hiatus, JR returns with his annual list of the movies that defined the entire year. Movies which earned numerous critical acclaim, high box office success, and social media attention were the ones chosen by JR in this years' list. In order to qualify as a 2015 movie, the films in the list must have a United States release within the time frame 25 December 2014 to 24 December 2015 which disqualifies Quentin Tarantino's The Hateful Eight as it just premiered in the United States on 25 December 2015 and yet to have a worldwide release the following year. Jurassic World caught the attention of JR and the whole world earning the highest box office of the year so far with almost $1.7 billion worth of tickets sold. To Star Wars fans, regardless that film critics is saying the movie will earn more than Jurassic World, by the time this blog was published you are past half way in besting Jurassic World's box office making it still the year's highest grosser. Jurassic World was that movie that really earned my jaw-dropping astonishment from its use of CGI for its dinosaurs and movie location to the unique story formula unique to the Jurassic Park franchise. It really earned its marked as my defining movie of the year. Movie franchises are still rocking the list, with James Bond, The Avengers, Star Wars and The Hunger Games each having an entry. Only one animated film made this year's list for its touching and tear-jerking story. Mad Max, the year's most critically acclaimed, also earned a spot on the list. Unfortunately, 50 Shades of Grey, Furious 7, and Mission Impossible didn't make this year's cut. By the way, before proceeding with the list, JR warns you, SPOILER ALERT! It's a great time to unveil the Movies of the Year list with the T-Rex roaring at the top spot.

For a movie to qualify in the list, it must have earned numerous critical acclaim, high box office success, and ample social media attention.

To qualify within the Top 5, it is a must for the movie to have been watched by JR from start to finish. Other movies which have not been watched by JR are still qualified in the list but only in the 6th to 10th places with their rankings solely based on their critical acclaim and social media attention (excluding box office numbers).

The movies must have a United States release between 25 December 2014 to 24 December 2015 and must have been released in Philippine cinemas regardless of the date of its release. (This disqualifies Quentin Tarantino's The Hateful Eight as it will have a United States release of 25 December 2015. Regardless, JR loves Quentin Tarantino films and his new movie may earn a spot in next year's list)

To maximize the number of genres entering the list, a minimum of one film for the following genres were included in the list.

Animation

Action

Drama & Comedy (includes Biography)

Fantasy (includes Adventure and Sci-Fi)

Horror

In cases of movie franchises (or movie universes, i.e. Marvel and X-Men), only one film series from the franchise will be included in the list. (That's why Marvel can only have either Ant-Man or Avengers in the list not both.)

No movie re-releases in HD or IMAX were included in the list (such being Jurassic Park & Forrest Gump).

All films selected are international films having worldwide releases including the Philippines, no local films were included in the list as JR wants it to be definitive of what it really takes to be a movie of the year for the entire world. (Heneral Luna would have made it though.)

All box office data in the list were as of blog publishing - 28 December 2015. All box office numbers were rounded to the nearest thousands.

Jurassic World has been an awesome return for what has been a classic and remarkable movie franchise. The movie easily nabs the top spot for its astounding box office success amounting to more than one and a half billion dollars equally destroying numerous box office records and for its universal critical praise for its editing, musical score, story and acting by its ensemble cast. It was 1993 when a dinosaur-themed theme park was envisioned by John Hammond showcasing the dinosaurs that ruled the earth in the era that spanned before the rise of humans. It was then that the world first witnessed the giraffe-like Brachiosaurus and what was then the epitome of terrifying, the Tyrannosaurus Rex, until disaster struck the entire island resulting in its eventual closure. 20 years have passed and finally life found its way with a fully functional theme park established by Simon Masrani consisting of different dinosaurs with both the Brachiosaurus and Tyrannosaurus Rex plus the massive new dinosaur, the aquatic Mosasaurus, accessible to the general public. Disaster soon ensues as the company that started the theme park experimented on creating a new terrifying attraction, the Indominus Rex. Jurassic World astonished the inner kid in me with its ambitious theme park. It would soon be a challenge for the makers of the film franchise to follow-up the giant that is Jurassic World with movies that would still catch the attention of movie viewers worldwide.

Pixar never fails to catch the hearts of its loyal audience with its newest addition to its movie catalogue, Inside Out. It's an ambitious idea by the revered animation studios owned by Disney and Steve Jobs but proven to be effective to movie audiences regardless whether they be adult or children and movie critics alike. Almost all of its scenes was carefully thought of encapsulating what would possibly be the control center of every human being which is being regulated by five different emotions - Joy, Sadness, Fear, Anger, and Disgust. In possibly the first of a (hopefully) soon to be movie franchise (like Toy Story, Cars and Monsters, Inc.), we venture inside the mind of Riley having five different power personalities being contained in five islands guarded by the five emotions such being family-oriented, friendly, honest, good in hockey, and goofy. The control center soon struggles to take control when Sadness creates the first "sad" core memory in Riley's mind. It's really amazing for Pixar to envision our minds having headquarters controlled by emotions, personality islands that are built throughout our growth, imagination land that produces our dreams, and memory dump where those unneeded information in our minds are thrown away and forgotten for good. Inside Out really caught my heart and attention from start to finish. The movie has a balance between Joy, wacky situations which would make you really laugh and enjoy, and Sadness, tear-jerking moments which would eventually make you cry in scenes which the movie viewers would possibly remember and cherish. Inside Out eventually captured the emotions of its viewers proving that Pixar has the most effective formula for its movie releases. Five stars to Pixar as Inside Out has the highest Metacritic Score for all the entries in the list; possibly the first Academy Best Picture for an animated film.

In its 24th film outing, James Bond (Agent 007) finally faces the organization that started it all, that made it all, and controlled it all, the criminal syndicate known as SPECTRE. If it would not been for them, James Bond would just be an ordinary spy working for field work and training to the British government or just be a lame jobless agent. The group first appeared in the movie Diamonds Are Forever, the seventh film outing of James Bond, when James Bond first took glimpse of SPECTRE's Number 1, Ernst Stavro Blofeld (which would eventually be killed by 007). When the film franchise was rebooted with Casino Royale reestablishing the story, we again give witness to Ernst Stavro Blofeld alive and would eventually be caught alive in the end. Everything comes in full circle for James Bond when he finally faces the head of the organization that has destroyed even his most personal (and secretive) life. JR stands with conviction that "Casino Royale," "Goldfinger," and "Skyfall" are the best that the film series have spawned so far with Goldfinger being my personal most favorite out of the 24 James Bond films. Spectre, however, is an awesome not-to-be-missed-out addition to the movie franchise that stood strong for more than 50 years (James Bond's first film "Dr. No" was shown way back 1962). Sam Mendes proved to be an effective director to the film series. With the film's introductory sequence in Mexico until the capture of Blofeld, everything in Spectre has been beautifully and aesthetically well-crafted.

#4

MAD MAX: FURY ROAD(2015)

Worldwide Box Office:

$375,836,000

Metacritic Score: Internet Movie Database Score:

89 out of 1008.2/10

Movie Genre:

Action

Director/s:

George Miller

Distributor:

Warner Bros.

MPAA Rating:

R

Total Running Time:

2 hours, 0 minutes

Production Budget:

$150 million

Cast Overview:

Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron, Nicholas Hoult, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley

Mad Max first gained a massive following way back 1979 when an Australian medical doctor put into fruition an idea he had after handling different cases of injuries and deaths from diseases and car accidents that would soon to be incorporated in the film in the area he had worked for. Years have passed and Mad Max returned in 2015 with still the same concept as the first films in the franchise [Mad Max (1979), Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981), and Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985)]. The first film has a cult following that spans until today making this film a treat to such fans of the film.Film critics from around the world gave the film universal critical accolades upon its initial outing last May 2015. It would really be unfair if JR would missed out on a film that is listed by some as the Best Film of the Year (i.e. The New York Times, The Guardian, Rotten Tomatoes, Metacritic, TIME Magazine, Rolling Stones) in his list of the Movies of the Year (as he really wants it to be definitive of the year it was released with box office, critical acclaim and social media attention as his criteria of selection). In Mad Max: Fury Road, George Miller returns his idea of a post-apocalyptic world of deserted wasteland and fallen society wherein supplies like gasoline and medicine are inadequate to the still-living members of the human race. Take the idea of "The Walking Dead" were supplies are being fought over but without the zombies, you have Mad Max. The film is entirely war and chaos as it is a struggle for Max, who is a supplier of blood, to escape an enslaved civilization. It's Mad Max: Fury Road that film critics are pushing the average movie audience to go to a local cinema in 2015. The acting, cinematography, screenplay, visual effects, make-up and musical score are all amazing in Mad Max: Fury Road.

For those who still do not know, Avengers is a Marvel superhero team that is set to "avenge" the citizens of this universe against all forces of evil in this world. The Avengers has been assembled to fight foes that no single superhero can withstand. At present, the Avengers is comprised of Iron Man (played by Robert Downey, Jr.), Captain America (played by Chris Evans), Thor (played by Chris Hemsworth), The Incredible Hulk (played by Mark Ruffalo), Black Widow (played by Scarlett Johansson), and Hawkeye (played by Jeremy Renner). In this second release of the Avengers franchise in the Marvel cinematic universe, we see the rise of Ultron, an artificial intelligence designed by Tony Stark as the most perfect peace program that is entirely indestructible and flawless, which would eventually become an object of disaster with its sole goal the destruction and end humanity. With an ensemble cast unique to the film franchise, we see the addition of Vision, Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver (who would eventually die, sorry for the spoiler), Falcon and War Machine to the Avengers. This film for me surpassed the beauty and grandeur of the first film as like the first four films listed before this movie, it is ambitious and relatively hard-to-do in scope. Ultron is the next hardest boss to defeat after Loki, so I have to emphasize that it is ambitious and relatively hard-to-do in scope. With Loki and Ultron both defeated, the Avengers have one final force to defeat, Thanos, who would give life to the anticipated Infinity Wars (but first we must give witness to the Civil War next year). Marvel remains a yearly staple in the summer blockbuster movie releases. With Avengers: Age of Ultron, Marvel proves that they are a force to be reckoned with in the film industry. (Before I end this description, I would like to express my personal excitement for the addition of Spider-Man soon, thanks Sony.)

#6

STEVE JOBS(2015)

Worldwide Box Office:

$25,467,000

Metacritic Score: Internet Movie Database Score:

82 out of 1007.6/10

Movie Genre:

Biography

Director/s:

Danny Boyle

Distributor:

Universal

MPAA Rating:

R

Total Running Time:

2 hours, 2 minutes

Production Budget:

$30 million

Cast Overview:

Michael Fassbender, Kate Winslet, Seth Rogen, Jeff Daniels

If there is one thing that JR loves the cinema industry to do, it is for them to create biopics based on those people (living or deceased) who have a paramount contribution to the society may it be in politics, entertainment, business, engineering, medicine, or pop culture. I first gave recognition to a biopic way back 2010 with The Social Network on how the social media giant, Facebook, came into dominance and prominence (both are different in meaning). It's one of the best films I have seen in my entire life, and stands as one of my personal favorites in my entire history of movie viewing. Steve Jobs' first biopic with Ashton Kutcher playing the title role was a complete disaster but in Steve Jobs' second biopic directed by renowned director Danny Boyle, we finally see an accurate and touching glimpse to the mind of Steve Jobs. The film focuses on three crucial points in Steve Jobs career, (1) the launching of the Apple Macintosh in 1984, (2) the showcase of the NeXT Computer after struggles with his own Apple company in 1988, and (3) the release of the iMac in 1998. Michael Fassbender plays the role of Steve Jobs in this film, which was deemed by film critics as commendable. Steve Jobs (the 2015 movie) is still yet to be released on January 2016 here in the Philippines (and JR is very excited to see it) but it has earned adequate critical acclaim for it to be listed in JR's definitive Movies of the Year list.

(Play title sequence, trumpet sequence) A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away... or I might as well say now in the present times, Star Wars finally makes a much anticipated comeback this year. It has been 10 years since the last Star Wars outing, Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, and almost 40 years since the first Star Wars film, Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (which awed the audience way back to impressive movie effects and editing which George Lucas pioneered). I have yet to see the film though but like the prior film I have decided to place it in the list as it has amassed massive box office defeating box office records which were claimed by the #1 in the list, garnered much positive movie reviews from movie critics, and huge fan following (including some of my friends) for the creation of a sequel to make the film a member of this year's Movies of the Year list. (I decided to watch the first six films first before watching this one as I want to understand the film's story more.) Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens is the first film of the Star Wars sequel trilogy by Disney after Disney acquired Lucasfilm from George Lucas who gave birth to the characters that are from Star Wars. J.J. Abrams, the mind behind two Mission: Impossible films, two notable TV shows, Lost and Alias, was the one who directed this flick that's why it is really worth a watch. Star Wars: The Force Awakens is set decades after the defeat of the Galactic Empire where a new threat arises, The First Order attempts to rule the galaxy and only a few is set to stop and defeat them. With much excitement coming from the film, the film deserve to really be in this year's definitive Movies of the Year list.

What happens when you are left alone in a place where you are the only one who is able to save yourself - The Martian. Much like Mad Max, this movie is a struggle for survival. Much of my anticipation for this film other than the story and concept comes from the one playing the title role and the one directing the film. Matt Damon has been always my favorite actor as I have been an avid fan of the Bourne movie franchise and Ridley Scott has been one of my favorite movie directors as his films Gladiator, Alien, Hannibal and American Gangster are some of those movies I have appreciated to watch. The Martian, with Inside Out, Mad Max: Fury Road and Steve Jobs, are on this list because of their critical acclaim despite the former and this one having not yet been watched by JR (both Inside Out and Mad Max have already been watched by JR). The positive reviews is enough for me to place the film in the list. I have too much excitement on watching both Steve Jobs and The Martian soon.

#9

THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY - PART 2(2015)

Worldwide Box Office:

$616,803,000

Metacritic Score: Internet Movie Database Score:

65 out of 1007.0/10

Movie Genre:

Adventure

Director/s:

Francis Lawrence

Distributor:

Lionsgate

MPAA Rating:

PG-13

Total Running Time:

2 hours, 17 minutes

Production Budget:

$160 million

Cast Overview:

Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth

All The Hunger Games films have always placed within the Top 3 of JR's Movies of the Year list since the list's inception last 2010 (The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 has not earned a rank in JR's definitive year-end list as JR had not released a Movies of the Year list for 2014.) The Hunger Games was listed last 2012 and ranked second among the twenty-five contenders for the list. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire earned the title "Movie of the Year 2013" as it placed first in the 2013's edition of the list surpassing fourteen other films who may have earned the top prize. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 did not equate with the rankings of the two prior films as it failed my expectations with the box office and there was too much good films that really surpassed it's attention for the year (such being Star Wars, Jurassic World and James Bond). The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 ended the epic saga of Jennifer Lawrence, I might as well say Katniss Everdeen, against the capitol who have been pursuing The Hunger Games for 75 years. It is with this movie that those who have not read the book series will find an answer on what happens to Katniss after her escape from the Quarter Quell in Catching Fire and her ensuing battle with the Capitol, on whether Katniss is really a foe or an ally of District 14's President Coin, on whether Katniss would continue the tradition of The Hunger Games with a new set of contenders and new set of rules, and on what happens to Gale and Peeta after the Quarter Quell and the battle between District 14 and the Capitol (one would die, sorry to spoil). I have anticipated this film so much for the past few years but my excitement really came to the movies listed before this film. I do hope that after this film Lionsgate still continues to make films based on The Hunger Games' idea of Gladiator-like fighting, which was my reason of loving the characters and the story of The Hunger Games in the first place.

A JR's Movies of the Year list is not complete without JR's desire for blood and gore in horror flicks. In fact, no Movies of the Year list is complete with at least one horror flick. Unfriended and It Follows were horror / thriller flicks that may have earned a spot on the list for their positive critical reviews but The Green Inferno has been a social media attention grabber lately that its even hard to remove it from JR's attention for including it in the list. Eli Roth has been known to create memorable gory flicks such as Cabin Fever, The Last Exorcism, Scream and most notably, Hostel. The Green Inferno is a throwback to the film Cannibal Holocaust which then garnered worldwide attention for its pushing the boundaries for what movies can show to the public then. The Green Inferno brings us to an isolated community in South America who lives on eating the flesh of humans who may accidentally or intentionally drop by their place of living. It may not be as positively reviewed and a box office success as those before the list, but the craze it garnered on social media is the reason why this is on the list. Eli Roth has been one of those directors I praise for his bloody horror flicks. Saw has been one of JR's favorite movie flicks of all time and The Green Inferno is one of those worthy to be included in JR's favorite horror movies.

JR's MOVIES OF THE YEAR 2015HONORABLE MENTIONS

The following deserve an honorable mention as they almost made the cut due to their box office success, critical acclaim, and social media attention.

2015 ends with movies that are hands down straight edge. With movies like "The Hateful Eight," "Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice," "Captain America: Civil War," "Finding Dory," "Alice Through The Looking Glass," "Bourne 5" and "Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them" coming on 2016, the expectations have already been set for movies in the upcoming year. Which movies will make it in JR's definitive Movies of the Year list for 2016.

This has been the 2015 Edition of JR's Movies of the Year.
JR bids farewell 2015 and greetings 2016.

- - - END OF JR LATE NIGHT MOVIES OF THE YEAR 2015 - - -

DATA SOURCES

All data used in the details of each film used in this blog are from the following sites:

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